(October 24, 2015) — [Breaking news update at 1:56 p.m. ET]
Four people died when a car hit a crowd during a parade Saturday morning in Stillwater, Oklahoma, a police official in that city said.
Eight were flown by “air ambulance” after suffering critical injuries, seven suffered “serious injuries” and seven others had less serious injuries, Kyle Gibbs of that city’s police department said at a press conference.
Gibbs added that the 25-year-old woman who drove a car into those people has been arrested for allegedly driving under the influence. That woman is in a jail in Stillwater.
[Original story published at 1:43 p.m. ET]
A car careened into people who were watching an Oklahoma State University homecoming parade in Stillwater on Saturday morning, sending spectators “flying” into the air and injuring an undetermined number of them, a witness said.
OSU spokeswoman Carrie Hulsey-Greene confirmed that an “accident” occurred during the parade near the campus, but she did not describe what happened.
Paul Sims, an OSU graduate student, told CNN that he was watching the end of the parade with his daughter around 10:30 a.m. CT when a car hit other spectators across the street from where he was standing.
“I can’t describe it any more clearly than this: People flying in the air,” Sims said. “(The) vehicle … came to rest not long after they hit the first set of people.”
The incident happened at the intersection of Hall of Fame and Main streets, just a few blocks from campus, Hulsey-Greene said.
“Oklahoma State University is saddened by the tragic parade incident earlier this morning,” the school said on its Twitter account. “Our thoughts & prayers are with those affected.”
The incident happened about four hours before the OSU-Kansas University football game at Stillwater’s Boone Pickens Stadium.
Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin said on Twitter that the state’s “thoughts and prayers are with those affected by the tragic events” at Oklahoma State.
Kansas University commented on the incident through its athletic department Twitter account: “Our thoughts are with Oklahoma State and those involved in the tragic accident this morning.”
CNN’s Greg Botelho contributed to this report.
